ITI may invest in Onet.pl to bolster struggling Optimus

By year's end BRE Bank wants to sell its shares in Onet.pl., the Internet portal in which Optimus holds 75% stake. A major candidate to purchase the shares is ITI Holding, which is preparing its debut on Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE). According to market analysts, BRE bought its 33% of Optimus shares intending to sell them at a profit to a strategic investor, and now needs to hasten the sell-off. The price of Optimus shares is declining, and it will not be easy to find a partner willing to invest in Optimus as an entire holding. Various ideas exist for restructuring Optimus, such as forming four different companies from the holding and letting them debut on the WSE, but due to the recent poor performance of the exchange that variant has been suspended. The search for an investor in Optimus' biggest asset, Onet.pl has been unsuccesful until now. The participation of ITI in Onet.pl, the most popular Polish Internet portal, could have very positive influence on ITI's debut on WSE as well as on future quotations of Optimus shares.